1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to a use of a Lactobacillus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a use of a Lactobacillus plantarum, strain CMU995, for liver protection.
2. Description of Related Art
Lactobacillus is one of the main bacteria existed in the intestinal tract of a human being or an animal. Because of the beneficial effects on the physiological activity of a human or an animal body, Lactobacillus is often added into various probiotic products. For example, Lactobacillus can inhibit the growth of enteric pathogens (such as Salmonella or Escherichia) or resist the invasion of the pathogens, for instance, preventing the invasion of Salmonella typhimurium to the gastrointestinal epithelial cells. There are many patents related to the applications of Lactobacillus for inhibiting the pathogens. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,930 discloses a Lactobacillus johnsonii that can inhibit enterotoxin and intestinal invasive pathogens; U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,609 discloses a Lactobacillus lactis that can inhibit the growth of Escherichia in the digestive system; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,956 discloses a Lactobacillus acidophilus that can prevent and treat gastritis, duodenal ulcer, and gastric ulcer caused by Helicobacter pylori infection.
Despite basic physiological/pharmacological activities, Lactobacillus must have two important characteristics to function effectively within the animal body. First, the Lactobacillus must have strong resistance to the gastric acid and choline secreted by the animal gastrointestinal tract to survive in the digestive system and reach to the intestinal tract to perform its function. Then, the Lactobacillus must be able to strongly adhere to the intestinal epithelial cells of an animal host to compete with other pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract and avoid being expelled by the pathogens, in addition, because the pathogens also adhere onto the intestinal epithelial cells and so infective to the host, the Lactobacillus would be able to effectively expel the pathogens to protect the gastrointestinal tract from being infected if the Lactobacillus has the even stronger adhesion ability to the intestinal epithelial cells.
The novel strain of Lactobacillus plantarum, which was first isolated by the inventors of the present invention, has been proven that, apart from the ability of inhibiting the pathogens, it has excellent adhesion ability to the cells of the gastrointestinal tract and the urinary tract through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Therefore, the Lactobacillus plantarum can effectively and durably protect the gastrointestinal tract and the urinary tract from pathogenic infections. It also been found that this strain can directly inhibit the growth of the pathogens to prevent and treat diseases caused by the pathogens.